Due to EPA regulations and fracking for natural gas, the coal industry has been greatly hurt. Donald Trump has eased EPA regs but he can't do anything about coal fired power plants being switched over to cheaper/cleaner natural gas. This is because many of the states have their own EPA regulations that punish coal.
However, now there may be hope for coal mining from Africa. As a continent, most of Africa is electricity starved as the demand for what we take for granted increases. Right now 100 coal power plants are in various stages of planning or development in 11 countries. According to the Global Warming Policy Forum, those new plants represent 8 times more electricity than those countries now have.
United States coal mining could be in an excellent position to export coal to Africa. After all, we have 27% of the world's known coal reserves. The only real supplier of coal on that continent is South Africa. But, South Africa has only 5.4% of the known reserves; making it difficult for them to supply the rest of Africa.
So, simply, the Trump administration should take the initiative and try to negotiate agreements with those 11 nations planning to build coal plants to buy our coal. Just a thought.
References:
African Nations To Build More Than 100 New Coal Power Plants: http://www.thegwpf.com/african-nations-plan-more-than-100-new-coal-power-plants/
Coal by Country: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coal_by_country
How much coal does the U.S. export and import? https://www.americangeosciences.org/critical-issues/faq/how-much-coal-does-us-export-and-import
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